New Android box has a controller

At Google I/O last week, Google was talking about its plans to bring what it called an Android TV box into the living room to deliver content via the Google Play Store. What Google didn’t directly say is that it will have a game controller as well.

The sample Android TV kits that google was giving developers, included a black game controller that looks like it used design elements from both the Xbox One controller and the PlayStation 4 controller. It is a twin stick controller with 4 buttons on the top as well as a directional pad and triggers.

While the kit is just a developer kit to be used for development, we don’t expect this controller to make it to market, but we do expect similar controllers with the same sort of feature set to be a part of other Android TV offerings.

Bringing Android TV out isn’t such a leap as the platform already has Ouya for example that use the Android platform for its console box. The best news is that the Google store already has a thriving community of developers who are being out software for the platform. The ability to convert titles between Android platforms has to be a clear advantage for developers who want to increase their potential revenue stream.